The Imam (peace be upon him) said...

The Imam (peace be upon him) said: My father had killed your father and had punished you (for consuming wine) and this is the reason of your animosity towards him (and it is this malice that has provoked you to abuse him). [^4] Ibn Sallaar In the sixth century a person by the name of Ibn Sallaar, one of the officers of the Egyptian army, rose to the rank of minister and ruled over the people with comprehensive power and authority.

On the one hand he was courageous, intelligent and active, while on the other hand self-centered and malicious and hence, while he was a minister, he not only served the people but also committed great and numerous acts of oppression. During the time when he was a soldier in the army, he was sentenced to pay certain damages and compensation.

He appealed to Abi al-Karam, the clerk of the treasury, for justice, but Abi al-Karam refused to consider his explanations and upheld the sentence saying: Your words do not enter into my ears. Ibn Sallaar was infuriated and continued to harbour malice towards him. When he became the minister and an opportunity presented itself for revenge, he had Abi al-Karam arrested and ordered a long nail to be hammered into one of his ear till it emerged from the other one.

While the nail was being hammered, whenever Abi al-Karam would shriek out in pain, Ibn Sallaar would say: Now my words have entered into your ears! Later, upon Ibn Sallaar’s orders, the lifeless body of Abi al-Karam with the hammered nail was hung up on the gallows.[^5] Rancour Transforms into Friendship Shaibah’s father was called U'thman, who, along with the other disbelievers, was killed in the battle of Uhud.

Since the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) had killed his father and eight persons from his family, Shaibah held an intense grudge against him. He himself said: There was none towards whom I harboured more animosity than Muhammad, for he had killed eight persons from my family, all of whom possessed the competence and ability to be leaders and commanders.

I had always nurtured the idea of killing him but, after the conquest of Mecca, I lost hope of achieving my goal for I used to think: How would it be possible for me to achieve my objective when all the Arabs had flocked into his religion.